Derry City will be aiming to maintain their place as the League of Ireland Premier leaders when they host Shelbourne on Friday.

The visitors, meanwhile, currently sit sixth in the table and head into this match after two games without a victory.

Match preview

Derry City have impressed so far this season, losing just four of their 18 matches to this point in the league which has allowed them to climb to the top of the table.

A big reason for that has been their defensive performances, with the team having conceded just 12 goals so far, but that is only beaten by one team in the division, Shelbourne.

Despite their dominance throughout the campaign, Ruaidhri Higgins will be wanting to see a better performance out of his men this time around after they were defeated during their previous outing.

Even though Silgo Rovers finished the game with 10 men, Derry City were unable to get back into the game after they conceded the only goal of the game in the fourth minute.

With just a point between them and Shamrock Rovers right now there will be plenty of pressure on the Candystripes heading into this fixture.

The visitors will be aiming to take advantage of Derry City's recent defeat to boost their own campaign, particularly since a win could take them into the top half depending on other results.

Shelbourne have been performing well at the back just like their opponents, and that was evident last weekend when they shared the points with Bohemians in a goalless draw.

However, the team have now gone two consecutive games without a win which is something they will need to turn around in order to start progressing up the division.

The meeting between the two teams earlier this season led to a closely contested fixture that saw Derry City squeeze a 1-0 win.

Getting revenge for that result will be important to Shelbourne this time around, especially since the club could slip down a place with a defeat.

Team News

Derry City will be without Sadou Diallo this Friday because of suspension, which is something that Higgins will have to take into consideration.

However, he was recently boosted by the returns of Patrick McEleney and Mark Connolly and that should provide more than enough depth due to the fact he has no injuries to worry about.

The visitors are also dealing with injury problems at the moment as Kian Leavy and Paddy Barrett are both out of action at the moment.

However Sean Boyd and Gavin Molloy were able to return to light training last week and with more time under their belt, they could end up being in contention this time around.

Derry City possible starting lineup:
Maher; Dummigan, McEleney, McJannet, Doherty; Duffy, O'Reilly, Patching, Graydon; McEneff; O'Neill

Shelbourne possible starting lineup:
Kearns; Molloy, Byrne, Griffin; Wilson, Coyle, Lunney, Wilson; Smith, Farrell, Moylan

We say: Derry City 1-0 Shelbourne

These are the two best defensive teams in the division, therefore people should not expect a goal frenzy from this one, which will likely be tight.

However, Derry City will be the favourites and should just take the edge as they aim to remain on top of the division.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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